Cap for cosmetic case

ABSTRACT

A cap for a cosmetic case is provided. The cap includes a cap body and a sealing member. The cap body is made of a hard material and includes an upper wall, a sidewall extending downwards from an edge of the upper wall, a threaded portion formed on an inner circumference of the sidewall, and a fitting space defined by an inner border surface between the upper wall and the sidewall. The sealing member is press-fitted into the fitting space of the cap body, and exerts or releases a sealing force on or from the mouth of the cosmetic case when the cap body is opened or closed relative to the mouth of the cosmetic case in the threaded fastening method. The sealing member includes a hard circular support plate, and a sealing portion integrally formed on a surface of the circular support plate by insert molding.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates, in general, to a cap, which is configured to seal a mouth of a cosmetic case holding cream type cosmetics therein and, more particularly, to a cap for a cosmetic case, in which, apart from a sealing member sealing the mouth of the cosmetic case while providing a simple sealing structure, a cap body is operated to be opened or closed in a threaded fastening method, thus stably imparting or releasing a sealing force.

BACKGROUND ART

As is well known, in order to seal a mouth of a cosmetic case holding cream type cosmetics therein, a structure is adopted, in which a packing made of compressed foamed pealite is integrally adhered to a lower surface in a cap body, and simultaneously, a top of the mouth is additionally covered with a sub cap made of plastics.

However, the sealing method using the packing of the pealite is problematic in that the packing of the pealite is forcibly rotated while being compressed against an upper surface of the mouth of the cosmetic case, during the fastening of the cap body in the threaded fastening method, so that a compressed surface of the packing making contact with the upper surface of the mouth may be inevitably damaged or broken. Moreover, when the cap is used for a lengthy period of time, it may leave sealing marks behind and thereby has difficulty in providing a stable sealing force. Further, since air may be circulated in and out in view of the characteristics of the pealite packing, it is difficult to effectively prevent the moisture of the cosmetics from evaporating. Furthermore, if one desires to use the cosmetics, the sub cap should also be opened or closed, thus causing an inconvenience to a user.

Particularly in the case of using the pealite packing, the packing is integrally adhered to the cap, so that, when the upper surface of the mouth is not kept level and is slightly inclined in the process of forming the cosmetic case from glass, it is difficult to actively cope with the inclination and seal the cosmetic case. Therefore, a cap structure improved to solve these problems is required.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, Korean Patent No. 10-1268157 has proposed a cap structure, in which a packing made of an elastic material is integrally provided in a cap by insert or ultrasonic molding to seal a mouth of a cosmetic case. In addition, various sealing structures have been proposed. However, the conventional sealing structures still have limitation in preventing damage to the packing and to provide a stable sealing force.

PATENT DOCUMENT

(Patent Document 1) Korean Patent No. 10-1268157 (published on May 27, 2013)

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the related art, and is intended to provide a cap for a cosmetic case, which prevents an additional sealing member that is press-fitted into the cap from being damaged or broken and in addition prevents interference in rotation, regardless of whether a cap body is opened or closed relative to a mouth of the cosmetic case in a threaded fastening method, thus allowing the cap body to be smoothly opened or closed and always providing a stable sealing force.

Solution to Problem

In an aspect, the present invention provides a cap for a cosmetic case configured to be opened or closed in a threaded fastening method to seal an upper surface of a mouth of the cosmetic case, the cap including a cap body made of a hard material and having an upper wall; a sidewall extending downwards from an edge of the upper wall; a threaded portion formed on an inner circumference of the sidewall; and a fitting space defined by an inner border surface between the upper wall and the sidewall; and a sealing member press-fitted into the fitting space of the cap body and exerting or releasing a sealing force on or from the mouth of the cosmetic case when the cap body is opened or closed relative to the mouth of the cosmetic case in the threaded fastening method, wherein the sealing member includes a circular support plate made of a hard material, and a sealing portion integrally formed on a surface of the circular support plate by insert molding and coming into elastic contact with the upper surface of the mouth of the cosmetic case.

The sealing portion of the sealing member may further includes a contact groove formed to correspond to a projecting step formed on the upper surface of the mouth of the cosmetic case and thereby to come into close contact with the projecting step while surrounding the projecting step; and sealing wings integrally formed on both sides of the contact groove.

An outer diameter (D2) of the sealing portion formed on the circular support plate of the sealing member by insert molding may be smaller than an outer diameter (D1) of the circular support plate, and may be smaller than or equal to a diameter (d1) of a locking step for defining the fitting space, so that, when the sealing member is fitted into the fitting space of the cap body, the step of the circular support plate is locked by the locking step.

The cap may further include a protrusion ring formed on an inner circumference of the upper wall of the cap body to minimize a contact frictional force against the circular support plate of the sealing member when the cap body is opened or closed.

The protrusion ring formed on the cap body may be aligned with the mouth on a vertical axis such that the sealing portion of the sealing member directly presses the upper surface of the mouth of the cosmetic case when the cap body is closed.

The circular support plate of the sealing member may be cut at an upper corner thereof to form an inclined guide surface, the inclined guide surface enabling an easier fitting operation when the sealing member is forcibly press-fitted into the fitting space of the cap body.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

As described above, the cap for the cosmetic case according to the present invention is advantageous in that the additional sealing member is press-fitted into the fitting space of the cap body, so that, when the cap body is opened or closed relative to the mouth of the cosmetic case in the threaded fastening method, only the cap body is rotated, and the sealing member is pressed or released only in the vertical damaged or broken even when the sealing member forcibly makes contact with the mouth of the cosmetic case, in addition to always providing a stable sealing force.

Further, the cap is advantageous in that the contact groove is formed as the sealing portion of the sealing member, so that the mouth of the cosmetic case is supported in a surrounded form, thus providing a more stable sealing force.

Further, the cap is advantageous in that, when the cap body is opened or closed relative to the mouth of the cosmetic case, the circular support plate of the sealing member is made of a hard material like the cap body, and the protrusion ring is provided on the inner circumference on the upper wall of the cap body, so that a frictional contact surface is minimized and thus interference in rotation is prevented, thus allowing the cap body to be smoothly opened or closed.

Furthermore, the cap is advantageous in that the mouth of the cosmetic case and the protrusion ring are formed on the coaxial line, so that, when the cap body is closed, the sealing member is vertically pressed on the coaxial line, thus providing a stronger and more stable sealing force.

Further, the cap is advantageous in that the inclined guide surface is provided as the sealing member, thus making it more convenient to forcibly press-fit the sealing member into the fitting space of the cap body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a case cap and a cosmetic case according to the present invention, in which they are separated from each other;

FIG. 2 is an exploded side sectional view showing the cap according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a state before the cap according to the present invention is coupled to the cosmetic case;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged extracted sectional view showing portion A of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing a state where the cap according to the present invention is coupled to the cosmetic case;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged extracted sectional view showing portion B of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7A is an extracted sectional view showing a state before a sealing member according to the present invention is pressed on a projecting step of the cosmetic case; and

FIG. 7B is an extracted sectional view showing a state after the sealing member according to the present invention is pressed on the projecting step of the cosmetic case.

MODE FOR THE INVENTION

Hereinbelow, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a cap 10 for a cosmetic case according to the present invention includes a cap body 20 and a sealing member 30. The cap body 20 is made of a hard material, and includes an upper wall 21, a sidewall 22 extending downwards from an edge of the upper wall, a threaded portion 23 formed on an inner circumference of the sidewall, and a locking step 25 formed on the inner circumference of the sidewall to define a fitting space 24.

The sealing member 30 is movably fitted into the fitting space of the cap body, and exerts or releases a sealing force on or from the mouth 2 of the cosmetic case 1 when the cap body is opened or closed relative to the mouth of the cosmetic case in a threaded fastening method.

The sealing member 30 is composed of a circular support plate 31 that is made of a hard material, and a sealing portion 32 that is integrally formed on a surface of the circular support plate by insert molding and is in elastic contact with the upper surface 3 of the mouth of the cosmetic case.

Preferably, the cap body 20 is mainly formed of a hard synthetic resin material, for example, an ABS material. However, the cap body 20 may be made of other materials, such as a metal material.

Likewise, the hard circular support plate 31 constituting the sealing member 30 is preferably formed of a hard synthetic resin material, for example, ABS, PP, POM, etc., but may be formed of a material similar to the above-mentioned material.

Further, the sealing portion 32 constituting the sealing member 30 is preferably made of a synthetic rubber material that has a high elastic restoring force so as to increase the sealing force against the upper surface 3 of the mouth 2 of the cosmetic case 1. The example of this material may include Acrylonitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR), elastomer, and silicon rubber, which are widely used in a cosmetic-case related field.

Preferably, the sealing member 30 is press-fitted into the fitting space 24 of the cap body 20 within a range where interference in rotation does not occur between the sealing member 30 and the cap body 20.

Here, even if an outer diameter D1 of the circular support plate 31 of the sealing member 30 is slightly larger than an inner diameter d1 of the locking step 25 for forming the fitting space 24 (a difference between the diameters is within a range of 0.1 mm or less), both the cap body 20 and the circular support plate 31 are made of a synthetic resin material having elasticity, and the circular support plate 31 also has a thickness t of 0.1 mm or less, so that, as the sealing member 30 is forcibly press-fitted into the fitting space 24, the circular support plate passes over the locking step and thus may be elastically mounted in the fitting space.

According to the present invention, the sealing member 30 that is press-fitted into the fitting space 24 is elastically coupled to the cap body in such a way as to be locked by the locking step 25. Hence, once the sealing member 30 has been coupled to the cap body 20, it is unexpectedly removed from the cap body 20, so that the loss of the sealing member 30 is prevented when in use.

Reference numeral 4 of the drawings denotes a threaded portion which is formed on an outer circumference of the mouth of the cosmetic case. This engages with the threaded portion 23 which is formed on the inner circumference of the sidewall 22 when the cap body 20 is coupled to the cosmetic case.

In the cap 10 for the cosmetic case according to the present invention configured as described above, the sealing member 30 including the hard circular support plate 31 and the elastic sealing portion 32 is press-fitted into the fitting space 24 of the cap body 20, and the sealing member 30 is fitted into the fitting space 24 in such a way that the hard circular support plate 31 is in contact with the inner circumference of the upper wall 21 of the hard cap body 20. Thus, the press-fitting never leads to the interference in rotation due to frictional contact.

Therefore, if the cap body 20 is positioned at the mouth 2 and then rotated so as to seal the mouth 2 of the cosmetic case 1, as shown in FIG. 5, the elastic sealing portion 32 of the sealing member 30 seals the mouth 2 while forcibly compressing the upper surface 3 of the mouth 2. Further, when the cap body 20 is rotated, the sealing member 30 is not turned along the cap body 20. That is, the sealing portion 32 of the sealing member 30 comes into close contact with the upper surface of the mouth, and simultaneously the sealing portion is prevented from slipping due to the elastic compressive force of the sealing portion. In addition, sliding friction occurs between the hard circular support plate 31 and the lower surface of the upper wall 21 of the cap body 20 made of the hard material, so that only the cap body 20 is rotated.

Hence, the sealing member 30 is not turned along the cap body 20 as it is rotated, and only vertically exerts a compressive force by the clamping force of the cap body 20, thus sealing the upper surface 3 of the mouth 2 of the cosmetic case 1. Thus, even if the cap body 20 is opened or closed relative to the mouth in the threaded fastening method so as to exert or release the sealing force on or from the upper surface of the mouth of the cosmetic case, the elastic sealing portion 32 which is in direct contact with the upper surface of the mouth is never damaged or broken by rotating friction, thus always ensuring a stable sealing operation.

Meanwhile, according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, a contact groove 33 is further formed in the sealing portion 32 of the sealing member 30 to correspond to the projecting step 5 that is formed on the upper surface 3 of the mouth 2 of the cosmetic case 1 and thereby perform a sealing operation while surrounding the projecting step 5. Preferably, sealing wings 34 are integrally formed on both sides extending continuously from the contact groove 33, each sealing wing being tapered towards an end thereof.

As such, the contact groove 33 is further formed on the sealing portion 32, and the sealing wings 34 are further provided on both sides of the contact groove 33, thus further increasing the sealing force for the upper surface 3 of the mouth 2 of the cosmetic case 1.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, as the contact groove 33 comes into contact with the hemispherical projecting step 5, a central portion of the projecting step 5 is forcibly pushed up. When such a central portion is moved upwards and compressed, the sealing wings 34 disposed on both sides of the contact groove 33 are simultaneously pulled inwards, thus simultaneously coming into close contact with both sides of the projecting step 5. Consequently, the central portion and both sides of the projecting step 5 are entirely covered with the sealing wings 34 to be supported. Thus, such a sealing portion provides a more stable sealing force in comparison with a simple plate-shaped sealing portion.

Preferably, as shown in FIG. 2, an outer diameter D2 of the sealing portion 32 formed on the circular support plate 31 of the sealing member 30 by insert molding is smaller than an outer diameter D1 of the circular support plate 31, and is equal to or less than a diameter d1 of the locking step 25 for defining the fitting space 24, so that a step 31 a of the circular support plate 31 is locked by the locking step 25 when the sealing member 30 is fitted into the fitting space 24 of the cap body 20.

Such a configuration allows the step 31 a of the circular support plate 31 to be locked by the locking step 25 when the sealing member 30 is fitted into the fitting space 24 as shown in FIG. 6, thus reducing contact friction when the cap body 20 is rotated, and thereby inducing the smooth rotation. Also, as the sealing portion 32 never encounters interference from the locking step 25 when the cap body is opened or closed, a smooth compressing operation is achieved.

Preferably, according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, a protrusion ring 26 is further formed on the inner circumference of the upper wall 21 of the cap body 20 to minimize a contact frictional force against the circular support plate 31 of the sealing member 30 when the cap body is opened or closed.

According to the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the protrusion ring 26 formed on the cap body 20 is preferably aligned with the mouth on a vertical axis P such that the sealing portion 32 of the sealing member 30 directly compresses the upper surface 3 of the mouth 2 of the cosmetic case 1, especially when the cap body 20 is closed.

As such, the protrusion ring 26 is further formed on the cap body 20 and is located on the vertical axis P, thus allowing the sealing portion 32 to be precisely compressed against the upper surface 3 of the mouth 2 of the cosmetic case 1, and thereby further increasing a sealing force.

Preferably, as shown in FIG. 4, an upper corner of the circular support plate 31 of the sealing member 30 is cut off to form an inclined guide surface 35, so that the inclined guide surface 35 enables an easier fitting operation when the sealing member is forcibly press-fitted into the fitting space 24 of the cap body 20.

As described above, the cap 10 for the cosmetic case according to the present invention includes the sealing member 30 which provides a very simple sealing structure and is press-fitted into the fitting space 24 of the cap body 20 in such a way that the interference in rotation does not occur, thus further increasing the sealing force against the mouth 2 of the cosmetic case 1, ensuring stable sealing, and preventing the sealing member 30 from being damaged or broken, and thereby significantly increasing the reliability of a product. 

1. A cap for a cosmetic case configured to be opened or closed in a threaded fastening method to seal an upper surface of a mouth of the cosmetic case, the cap comprising: a cap body made of a hard material, and comprising: an upper wall; a sidewall extending downwards from an edge of the upper wall; a threaded portion formed on an inner circumference of the sidewall; and a fitting space defined by an inner border surface between the upper wall and the sidewall; and a sealing member press-fitted into the fitting space of the cap body, and exerting or releasing a sealing force on or from the mouth of the cosmetic case when the cap body is opened or closed relative to the mouth of the cosmetic case in the threaded fastening method, wherein the sealing member comprises: a circular support plate made of a hard material; and a sealing portion integrally formed on a surface of the circular support plate by insert molding, and coming into elastic contact with the upper surface of the mouth of the cosmetic case.
 2. The cap according to claim 1, wherein the sealing portion of the sealing member further comprises: a contact groove formed to correspond to a projecting step formed on the upper surface of the mouth of the cosmetic case and thereby to come into close contact with the projecting step while surrounding the projecting step; and sealing wings integrally formed on both sides of the contact groove.
 3. The cap according to claim 1, wherein an outer diameter (D2) of the sealing portion formed on the circular support plate of the sealing member by insert molding is smaller than an outer diameter (D1) of the circular support plate, and is smaller than or equal to a diameter (d1) of a locking step for defining the fitting space, so that, when the sealing member is fitted into the fitting space of the cap body, the step of the circular support plate is locked by the locking step.
 4. The cap according to claim 1, further comprising: a protrusion ring formed on an inner circumference of the upper wall of the cap body to minimize a contact frictional force against the circular support plate of the sealing member when the cap body is opened or closed.
 5. The cap according to claim 4, wherein the protrusion ring formed on the cap body is aligned with the mouth on a vertical axis such that the sealing portion of the sealing member directly presses the upper surface of the mouth of the cosmetic case when the cap body is closed.
 6. The cap according to claim 1, wherein the circular support plate of the sealing member is cut at an upper corner thereof to form an inclined guide surface, the inclined guide surface enabling an easier fitting operation when the sealing member is forcibly press-fitted into the fitting space of the cap body. 